The Strategic Investigations Department and the police in Mykolaiv searched the «Prosecco 8», the Department of Education and the MPE-C

Since the morning of 12 December, employees of the Strategic Investigations Department of Mykolaiv Region, together with the police, have been conducting searches at «Prosecco 8», the Department of Education and the catering company.

This was reported by NikVesti with reference to its own sources.

The searches are part of criminal proceedings under Article 191, paragraph 4, on misappropriation or embezzlement of property on a particularly large scale or committed by an organised group.

Investigative actions are taking place in several places at once, including

• at the company «Prosecco 8», which provides school meals in Mykolaiv;

• at the Department of Education of the Mykolaiv City Council;

• at the Municipal production enterprise for catering (MPE-C).

NikVesti has contacted the mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych, the head of the education department Hanna Lychko and the head of the ME Petro Vasheniak for comment and is awaiting their comments.

As of 10:18 a.m., officers of the Strategic Investigations Department and the Investigation Department of the Mykolaiv Region National Police are at the restaurant complex at 13 Sportyvna Street, where «Prosecco 8» rents space from city council member Hanna Remennikova. A car from the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, which is responsible for compliance with sanitary standards, has also arrived.

Catering for Mykolaiv schoolchildren

On 9 December, NikVesti showed the process of providing some of the city's schools with food prepared by the private company «Prosecco 8», which received a catering contract from the municipal enterprise. Parents of the children said that they did not receive breakfast on Monday, and the food was delivered only in the afternoon.

The footage showed the company's employees cooking porridge outside under a tent in the rain.

Vitalii Kim, a deputy of the Mykolaiv City Council and head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, responded to the scandal. After that, the Main Department of the National Police of Mykolaiv Region opened a criminal investigation into violations of the rules for preparing food for city schoolchildren.

Only in the evening did the mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych, respond to the video. The mayor called the situation unacceptable and initiated an inspection.

In her turn, Tetiana Dombrovska, a member of the Mykolaiv City Council, called the scandal with the new catering for schoolchildren a failure of the authorities. She demanded the dismissal of Vice Mayor Anatolii Petrov and Director of the MPE-C Petro Vasheniak.

The State Audit Service has launched an audit of the procurement of catering services for Mykolaiv's educational institutions due to signs of violations of public procurement laws.

The situation was also discussed at a meeting of the Mykolaiv Regional Council's Standing Committee on Education, Culture and Science. The deputies reviewed the scandalous situation with catering in city schools and expressed serious concern about the quality of children's meals.

It should be noted that the Mykolaiv City Hall decided to engage a private contractor after a public outcry over the quality of school meals. At the end of November, the municipal enterprise for catering chose the company «Prosecco 8», which will deliver food to some of the city's schools in December. During the open tender «PROSSECCO 8» became the only participant and winner of the tender for catering services. The price of the services was 14 million 279 thousand 658 hryvnias.

Who is the company that received ₴14 million for school meals associated with?

According to the YouControl system, the company «Prosecco 8», which was selected as a subcontractor, was registered in Mykolaiv in 2023 and has a registered capital of one thousand hryvnias. The company's activities are multifaceted: it provides mobile catering services, rents goods for sports and recreation, operates sports facilities, provides services to hairdressers and beauty salons, and more. The company is owned by Irina Stoieva.

NikVesti found out that Iryna Stoieva is also associated with another organisation — LLC «BBV 2021». The Register of Court Decisions contains a court ruling of 2023 on bringing her to administrative responsibility for violating the statutory procedure for making payments in the field of trade, catering and services. Iryna Stoieva is listed in the document as the manager of LLC «BBV 2021». The case concerned an unaccounted-for excess of alcohol and cigarettes in a cafe in the Zavodskyi district of Mykolaiv.

The YouControl system indicates that the head of this Mykolaiv-based limited liability company «BBV 2021» is Borys Berestnev, who is the son of the head of the «Proposal» faction in the Mykolaiv City Council and the head of the Inhulskyi District Administration, Hanna Remennikova.

It should be noted that Hanna Remennikova's family owns two popular restaurants in Mykolaiv: «Daily» and «Daily Sport». One of them, as the editorial board of NikVesti found out, employs Iryna Stoieva.

The decision to involve a private company in the organisation of meals for children in schools was previously commented on by the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych. In his telegram channel, the mayor said that within a month the city authorities would check the effectiveness of catering.